Students from Philippine School Doha welcoming guests during a celebration held to mark the 48th founding anniversary of Asean. PICTURE: Derek Vallesteros

By Joey Aguilar/Staff Reporter

The staging of Asean cultural events in Doha has helped expatriate communities and Qataris to gain a better understanding and appreciation of Asean traditions and practices, Philippine ambassador Wilfredo Santos has said.
Citing the success of Asean Festival 2015, the envoy pointed out that the event had brought people and communities together.
“It was a major cultural event because it was held at Katara – the Cultural Village, which is considered Qatar’s centre for culture,” noted Santos, who was speaking at a press conference on the 48th founding anniversary of Asean, or Association of South-East Asian Nations.
“It allowed us to collaborate with Katara and this may be the start of something regular, something permanent, and something that would benefit not only the Asean region but also other expatriate communities,” he said.
The Philippine embassy and other members of the Asean Committee in Doha (ACD) hope to institutionalise their cultural events by holding them on a regular basis, especially the Asean Festival.
The ACD had been exerting efforts to promote Asean in Qatar, highlighting the cultures and traditions of its member countries.
Santos said the Asean Festival is part of their efforts to move forward with the socio-cultural pillar of Asean. The other two pillars are the political-security community and economic community.
The festival featured a number of artistes and performers from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam and the Philippines.
A large number of visitors, including Qataris and people from different expatriate communities, had thronged the Katara Esplanade to watch the cultural shows.
To promote tourism locally, Thailand and the Philippines also hold regular cultural events in Qatar, bringing performers to Doha to entertain residents and tourists.
On August 12, members of Ballet Philippines, a widely recognised cultural group in the Philippines, will perform at Katara. The show is dubbed “Master Pieces: Celebrating the Tapestry of Filipino Culture and Friendship”.
The event presents a collection of the group’s acclaimed works created and performed throughout its 46-year history.
The staging of various cultural events has also helped attract Qatar's residents to visit Asean countries.
For example, the Thai embassy cited an increase in the number of visitors from Qatar, mainly for leisure and medical tourism.
The Singaporean and Malaysian embassies, too, had seen a rise in the number of Qataris visiting their countries. This was evident in the increase in frequency of Qatar Airways flights to Singapore.
While the Philippines is wooing Qataris to visit the country, it is also targeting Filipino expatriates to explore its tourist destinations.